Nevada police panel urged to pursue rogue firearm teachers

CARSON CITY — Rogue firearm teachers blemish the integrity of Nevada's concealed weapon permit, other instructors said Thursday as they urged a law enforcement panel to do more to root out and crack down on instructors who don't adhere to course mandates.

"I just hate to see that people are being slipped through the cracks just to make a few bucks and given a permit that they haven't earned," Jerome Hawkins, a retired Reno police officer and firearms instructor at Reno Guns & Range told a Nevada Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Association committee during a forum on concealed weapons.

"It devalues the entire program and what we're trying to do."

Douglas County Undersheriff Paul Howell, who presided over the meeting, said the concerns were not new.

"It's not our permit holders who cause this committee problems," Howell said. "It's the instructors who don't follow the process."

People who want a concealed weapon permit are required to take an eight-hour class that includes a written examination and qualifying at a firing range.

But Hawkins and others said some instructors have been known to hold classes at a coffee shop or restaurant and to sign completion certificates after just a few hours of instruction.

Howell has heard of it, too.

"I don't believe you can teach a CCW class in a local coffee shop and say its effective training," he said, describing the practice as a "puppy mill" approach to concealed carry permits.

There are more than 200 firearm instructors in Clark County, according to the Metropolitan Police Department website. Washoe County in Northern Nevada lists about 140.

Howell said law enforcement does investigate complaints about instructors. A first violation brings a warning. "And the second time, we revoke them and we don't reinstate them," he said.

The association revoked the authorization of two instructors last year, one in Carson City and one in Washoe County, Howell said.

"The success of this program does rest on the integrity of these instructors," he said.

Some at the meeting recommended forming an instructors' committee to self-police instructors. Others suggested seeking legislation to impose criminal penalties against those who don't follow standards.

After the meeting, Howell and others stressed that the eight-hour class for a concealed weapon permit covers just the basics.

"The class does not make you a gunfighter," Howell said. "It does not make you a pistolero."

Jeff Peebles, a Lyon County deputy and fire instructor, agreed.

"If you're going to get a CCW, it's your responsibility to learn how to use it," he said.

Training, he added, involves more than "pumping lead down the range."

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb.